Finley to Oregon?

Scout.com spoke Tuesday with Compton (Calif.) College WR James Finley. The 6-2, 200-pound Finley, who originally signed with Oregon out of high school, visited Eugene this past weekend.

"Yeah, I was there with tight end Jason Vandiver," Finley said. "We flew up there and had a lot of fun and got a lot to eat. it was great." Vandiver, from Fullerton College, verbally committed to Oregon State this week shortly after his visit to UO.

So did Finley, who will sign a letter of intent in a week or so as a mid-year graduate with three years to play two, pull a little deja vu out of his pocket and commit again to the Ducks? "Well, you could say I'm a soft verbal," he said, choosing his words carefully. "I'm visiting UTEP on Friday."

So how soft is his commit? "It's 70/30, 65/35," Finley said, breaking down the percentages. "At Oregon, they said they need an experienced guy to come in and lead a younger group of receivers. Demetrius Williams would be on one side and I would be battling for the other spot. And I'm not afraid of competition, I've been competing and proving myself my whole life."

So why the trip down south? "Well, Coach (Mike) Price offered me out of high school and he knows my family," James said. "I have a tremendous respect for Coach Price and I also have a couple of friends from my JC down there.

"They were a good team this year, and next year they'll still have (Jordan) Palmer and Tyler Ebell too. They should be better next year. I want to see what they have to offer, I already know what Oregon has to offer."

Finley makes no bones about it - he needs quality playing time. And his reasons are sound. "Coming out of JC, I really feel like I have the ability to play at the next level," he said. "And that means you have to have a really good junior year too! I feel like I need to be an 80-ball guy. At Oregon, they have a lot of younger receivers there. At UTEP, I could be the guy."

Expect a firm decision one way or another from Finley after the end of this weekend.